MEDIA: for the record

BSkyB has announced a 66 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to pounds

257 million for the year to 30 June. Turnover for the satellite TV

company exceeded pounds 1 billion on the back of a 30 per cent rise in

revenue and a 900,000 increase in subscribers to five-and-a-half

million.

European Business News has signed-up Carlsberg to sponsor its Sports

Update programme. The deal involves rebranding the show as the Carlsberg

Sports Update. The programme is broadcast 15 times a week, and the deal

will run until the end of the year. The sponsorship credits have been

produced in-house by EBN.

Crosse and Blackwell is to sponsor a new ITV show, Quisine. The deal was

worked out between Carlton UK Sales and Crosse and Blackwell’s media

buyer, Universal McCann. Quisine is an afternoon food and cookery quiz

programme that will run from Monday to Friday for seven weeks from 2

September.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has announced a 4 per cent fall in

profits after tax for the year to 30 June. In the UK, newspaper

operating profits rose 9 per cent as increased cover-prices for the Sun

and the Times combined with gains in ad volumes across all titles to

help to offset higher newsprint costs. Total ad revenue for the group

was up 7 per cent, with the Times recording a 20 per cent rise.

The media independent, Total Media, has picked up the media planning and

buying account for the UK launch of GT Interactive Software’s PC game,

Quake. The campaign is expected to be worth more than pounds 500,000 and

include posters, the specialist and style press and radio work. It is

the first time that GTI has appointed a media company in the UK.

The first conference on broadcast sponsorship will take place in

October. Marcus Bicknell, the managing director of BBC Worldwide,

Richard Bunn, the controller of sport for the European Broadcasting

Union, and Roger Broad, sponsorship director of BT, will be among the

speakers at the first International Sponsorship Convention.

VNU Business Publications has set up VNU Newswire, an internal

information technology news service to provide up-to-the-minute

information for its publications and Websites. The operation will

comprise six staff - four in London and two in the US. It will expand in

the coming months to bring in journalists from the company’s European

publications to broaden and strengthen the service.

High Life, British Airways’ monthly in-flight magazine, has been

redesigned. The aim is to make the title bolder, with a stylish

contemporary feel and a strong focus on people. The new-look magazine

will make its debut next month through BA’s extended fleet. The changes

coincide with the appointment of Mark Jones, executive features editor

of the Evening Standard, as managing editor. High Life is edited by Bill

Davies and published by Premier Magazines - one of the UK’s leading

contract publishers.

BMRB International’s TGI is launching a radio survey called Wavelength

that will allow the medium to be directly compared with other media.

Wavelength is a syndicated study that has been designed to complement

existing Rajar data for the first time. It will provide information, not

only on local radio, but also on national and regional press and TV.

Virgin Radio has signed up Walkers Doritos Dipping Chips as the first

advertiser to use its Virgin Advertiser Line service, which is available

as part of the Virgin Radio Orange Directory. The directory uses the

latest technology from Orange and allows listeners to call one number

for a range of services, including giving responses to advertisers’

messages.

This article was first published on Campaign